1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to meat hooks, and more particularly to a meat hook for use in meatpacking plants, slaughterhouses, butcher shops and the like for handling, grasping, and moving slabs of meat of various sizes.
2. Preliminary Discussion
Hand-held meat hooks are used by a majority of workers in meat packaging facilities today. Such hooks are desirable tools because they extend the reach of the worker a few inches, enable a firm grip to be obtained on slabs of meat, and reduce or minimize the CTD risk factor as well as the chances of cutting one's fingers with a knife, since the worker's fingers are positioned further away from the cutting blade. Slabs of meat may also be slippery due to wetness derived from blood or water, and such hooks aid in properly gripping the meat for further processing. A significant mechanical advantage is also attained by using such hooks.
The conventional meat hook is comprised of a hook portion and a handle portion connected substantially transversely from said hook portion. The handle portion is grasped in the palm and gripped tightly in the worker's fingers, with the hook portion extending forwardly and outwardly from the hand, normally extending between the first and second fingers or the second and third fingers of the hand being used. When the pointed end of the hook is forced into a slab of meat, the handle is grasped tightly so that the hook will not twist due to such force, and so that the weight of the meat is supported on the handle in the hand of a worker. The stiffness of the handler's grasp is aided by the hook extending between the fingers, since the hook is laterally supported by contact with the base of the fingers on each side. The handle may be a general cylindrical configuration or may be shaped with preferably flattened sides or an otherwise molded exterior to improve gripping by the user's hand. This enables the entire hand to be used in a power grip position to hold or secure a slab, and enables the user to provide a better or more efficient pulling force in order to move or turn such slab.
Injuries to the hands as a result of the use of such prior meat hooks, and the reasons for such injuries, are well known and documented. A handle having a rectangular shape concentrates all of the pulling pressure of the hook across a narrow band near the base of the fingers. A handle having a cylindrical shape spreads the pulling force of the hook more evenly across the fingers, but the hard plastic still puts contact stress on the tendons of the hand as they are squeezed against the finger bones. Therefore, circulatory compromise, neuropathy and trigger finger CTD symptoms are likely to develop over time. In use, the hand that is gripping the handle is under constant tension or stress. Injuries and disease processes such as arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and the like are therefore quite common in the meatpacking industry, and have resulted in a large number of health-related claims and absenteeism. Irritation and severe callousing on the fingers between which the stem or shank of the meat hook extends is also not only very common, but endemic. While the need for a more ergonomic or less stressful design meat hook is clearly known, to date no one has up to now developed a device which adequately addresses all of the inadequacies and disadvantages of the conventional meat hook, while incorporating also the practical advantages of the present hook. One improved meat hook handle, which has been used, is the so-called “D” handle in which the curved section of the “D” supports the impaling or slab handling hook itself while the closure of the curved portion of the “D” may be grasped by the hand of the worker. Unfortunately, while this arrangement avoids the passage of the hook shank member between the user's fingers, it allows the handle to rotate adversely in the palm unless gripped very tightly even when a rectangular configuration or surface is provided on the handle.
3. Description of Related Art
The patented prior art with respect to grasping devices in general and meat hooks in particular discloses a wide variety of different arrangements designed to improve the efficiency of the hook and its grasping power. The most relevant of such prior art references known to the present inventor are disclosed and discussed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,73,830 issued to L. G. Wade on May 7, 1901, entitled “Lumber Hook,” discloses a hook designed for grasping boards in a pile of lumber. The hook is made of metal and has a flat shank with a right-angled prong at its distal end, which prong serves as a hook. A wrist strap enables the user to let go of the hook when it is not in use while still keeping it in a close relationship to the user's body. The Wade hook does not illustrate unique features and advantages of the applicant's meat hook device, however, such as the angled or offset handle frame or quick-release wrist strap.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,136 issued to R. J. Groves on May 18, 1909, entitled “Implement for Shocking Grains,” discloses a tool having a handle section that is aligned with the shank of the tool and held in the user's palm, a forwardly extending hook section, and a small loop attached to the shank of the hook for receiving the user's forefinger, which loop improves the user's grip on the tool. While Groves broadly discloses a hook and strap combination, the particular advantages of the present inventor's meat hook are not disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,29,173,136 issued to D. B. Stone on Jul. 27, 1909, entitled “Husking Device,” discloses a hook for use in corn husking activities that is secured both to the user's wrist and upper arm, so that the tool does not have to be gripped in the hand by the user during use. However, the wrist and arm straps of the Stone device do not appear to be “quickly releasable” when a certain minimal amount of outside force is exerted.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,086,636 issued to O. C. Anderson on Feb. 10, 1914, entitled “Shocking Hook,” discloses a hook for handling bundles of corn and the like having three hook members extending forwardly from a single shank, a gripping handle aligned perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shank, and a strap for securing the device to the forearm. While the advantages of the device are not clearly listed, it appears the hook is designed to aid in lifting bundles while reducing the amount of stress on the user's hand and arm in a manner basically generally similar to your the present invention except secured to the forearm rather than the wrist.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,542,503 issued to C. Haidele on Jun. 16, 1925, entitled “Meat Hook,” discloses a meat hook having a wooden handle aligned with and surrounding a straight shank portion, and in addition, having an adjustably positionable outwardly protruding trigger member over which one's forefinger is placed during use of the tool, thereby improving the user's grip and gripping power. Such tool still must be gripped in the user's hand at all times during use, however.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,278,610 issued to P. Brownstone et al. on Apr. 7, 1942, entitled “Bundle Picker,” discloses a leather gauntlet member that is securable around a user's hand and having a pair of forwardly extending hooks that are thrust into bundles and the like. The Brownstone bundle picker appears to be designed to reduce stress on the hands and fingers that might occur due to lifting the bundles by continually gripping a hook, but has a different construction from the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,331 issued to H. Michaud on Mar. 21, 1967, entitled “Log Hook,” discloses a log hook having a handle with flattened lateral faces around which the user's hand is cupped and oriented so that it is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shank. While the shank section of the Michaud hook does not have to extend through or between the user's fingers, the user must maintain a tight grip on the handle at all times, or else the hook will be dropped. This so-called D handle arrangement has been suggested for use in meat hooks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,387 issued to J. M. Lindbergh on Dec. 6, 1977, entitled “Net-Raising Tool,” discloses a tool using a modification of a “D” handle for use by fishermen to grasp and raise a fishing net from the sea by the use of several hook members attached to a handle section. A wrist strap is not provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,592 issued to C. P. Jackson on Dec. 21, 1982, entitled “Multi-Purpose Log Handling Tool,” discloses a logging tool having an appearance similar to that of a “conventional” meat hook with a “D” type handle. The hook has an opening on its proximate end in which a closed loop handle is received. The main improvement of such device appears to be that the handle can be adjusted so that it is either rigidly or swivelably secured to the hook, and thus the tool can be easily arranged for either lifting or rolling logs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,412 issued to J. J. Meeko on Dec. 11, 1984, entitled “Weight Lifting Grips,” discloses a weight lifting gripping aid including a curved weight engagement. The device includes a wrist strap secured to a semicircular cradle that surrounds a portion of a weightlifting bar, so that the amount of tension on the user's fingers and hands in supporting the wearer or the weightlifting bar is reduced, allowing either a greater amount of weight to be lifted or lifted for a longer period of exercise without having to stop due to tiring of the hand and fingers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,875 issued to F. Ziegler on Apr. 28, 1987, entitled “Hook Construction,” discloses a meat hook having a handle section and a strap section. The handle is situated in a C-shaped frame which surrounds the front and sides of the hand when the handle is gripped, and a hook member extends forwardly from the front of the C-shaped frame rather than between the fingers of the user. In addition, a strap member is provided along the rear of the frame, which strap member is placed over the top but not the bottom of the wrist, and thus apparently is not actually secured to the wrist. The strap member is designed to prevent the hook element from rotating upwardly when a downward manual force is applied on the hook by the user. The construction of the hook and handle is different from that of the present inventor's invention. The arrangement is basically a variation of the “D” type handle arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,465 issued to P. D. Dooley on Sep. 8, 1987, entitled “Gaff for Landing Fish,” discloses a hook having an elongated shank section and an angled pistol grip style handle member attached extending downwardly and rearwardly from the rear end of the shank. The hook member extends from one side of the handle but does not extend around to the front. A wrist strap is not disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,279 issued to C. L. Fritscheian et al. on Jan. 19, 1988, entitled “Hook Water Sports Hand Grip” discloses a hand grip having a palm strap section designed to fit in the user's palm and having a rib configuration on the finger end of the palm strap section, as well as a finger loop on the same end of the palm strap. The palm strap is also secured around the user's wrist by a wrist strap.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,974 issued to T. W. Buhr on Mar. 7, 1989, entitled “Method of Attaching a Wrist to a Bar for Exercising,” discloses a strap also for use in securing one's wrist to an exercise bar, with the purpose being to prevent the user's wrist from weakening before the muscles being exercised are fatigued. Such strap includes a Velcro® closure on its ends.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,257 issued to R. F. Bailey on Apr. 9, 1991, entitled “Meat Hook,” discloses a meat hook having a shank section that is straight for a short section starting from the proximate or handle end, and then is angled upwardly just before the hook section, and also having an upwardly or downwardly vertically extending handle member situated at about a 90° angle with respect to the shank. There is no means for alleviating the requirement to grip the handle tightly at all times such as in the present invention. Furthermore, the handle and therefore, the grip is parallel to the hook rather than perpendicular thereto and thus requires a different hand orientation than with a conventional meat hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,319 issued to T. Tarail on Nov. 14, 2000, entitled “Exercise Grip,” discloses another exercise gripping aid, which is secured to the wrist of the user by a Velcro® releasable strap member.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,849,036 issued to F. Forslid on Feb. 1, 2005, entitled “Gripping Device,” discloses another gripping aid for gripping a rounded handgrip, which device is secured to the wrist of a user by a Velcro® releasable strap member. Such strap apparently is not secured around the wrist in the same manner as the strap member of the present inventor's meat hook invention, however.
U.S. Design Patent D429,626 issued to R. C. Hearn et al. on Aug. 22, 2000, entitled “Meat Hook,” discloses a meat hook having a handle member connected to the underside of the shank by a rounded frame which surrounds the hand when the handle is grasped. In addition, the shank extends rearwardly past the handle where a rounded padded support is attached, which support contacts the upper side of the wrist and prevents the hook from twisting in the hand of the user when it is pressed downwardly into a slab of meat. While in use the wrist support probably enables the user to maintain a less firm grip on the handle member, the Hearn meat hook does not include a wrist strap and has a different construction from the present inventor's hook.
U.S. Design Patent D481,287 issued to M. O. Crist on Oct. 28, 2003, entitled “Drawknife with Wrist Support,” discloses an ornamental design for a drawknife having a blade extending upwardly from a handle member, which member has a rearwardly disposed frame structure with apparently a Velcro® wrist strap attached.
The present inventor's meat hook device is significantly different from, for example, the Ziegler meat hook device and, it is believed, the other known devices either disclosed above or otherwise known to the inventor. First, the wrist strap of the Ziegler device, for example, merely prevents the hook from pivoting when it is forced into a meat product, while the present inventor's strap is secured tightly around the entire wrist, and therefore the user does not have to grip the handle as tightly to pull or move a product, since much of the force that was initially applied only by the hand is now transferred to the wrist. In addition, the frame that surrounds the hand of the Ziegler device makes it harder to remove one's hand from the device quickly, and therefore presents a safety hazard to a user should the hook, frame, or strap become stuck or entangled in a conveyor belt of a meat processing line or the like. Another considerable advantage of the present inventors' hook over the conventional meat hook is that the hook shank is offset where it engages the handle next to the little finger. Thus, there is less rubbing and irritation occurring between the fingers or wear occurring to a protective glove worn over the hand than in the traditional meat hook. In addition, the handle of the present inventor's meat hook cannot entrap the hand, because it is open on the thumb side of the handle, which enables the user to grasp the handle with the thumb at the top of the handle next to the fingers at the end of the handle or wrapped around the handle at any time during use. In addition, the inventor's strap arrangement is attached to the bottom of the handle in a loop fashion at the inside of the wrist and extending around to the back of the wrist. The strap is also attached using hook and loop fasteners, and a pull tab is provided so that the hook and loop fasteners can be very quickly torn apart or opened, and the strap released in the event of an emergency. It is extremely important that a meat hook be readily releasable from the hand in case of emergency, but be securely held during actual use. The present inventor's strap also transfers the force of the hook to the back of the wrist which will allow the user to significantly reduce his grip on the handle portion of the device while pulling on the hook engaged with a slab of meat or the like. Such arrangement significantly reduces the occurrence of carpal tunnel syndrome and so-called trigger finger (because a similar injury reducing the ability to move the finger occurs in those continuously contracting the finger used to operate the trigger of a gun). Furthermore, the present inventor's hook can be lowered to the side of the user where such user can release the grip, totally enabling the user to exercise his or her fingers between use while still allowing the hook to be maintained ready for use. This cannot be accomplished in the Ziegler invention. The user of the present inventor's hook device, for example, can then use both hands and quickly re-grasp the hook to continue its use. The present invention is also inexpensive to manufacture and therefore can be mass-produced in a cost-effective manner.